Helen Pitcher, OBE
The Covid crisis has stimulated rapid and innovative thinking, precipitating new developments in many spheres, from drones providing indoor disinfection to homemade face masks. But one of the most dramatic developments in the business world has been the overnight global implementation and leadership of remote working. What was thought to be impossible, has been done. What was thought to hamper effective communication has proved false. What was thought to be a generation gap in use of interactive communication has been blown away. The mass numbers of people working remotely has broken the logjam of many taboos, traditional thinking and general technology inertia.
Coupled with this shifting paradigm an effective leadership style is also emerging. As businesses surprisingly see increased levels of productivity in this ‘new’ world, it is time to rethink. As we have learnt to cope with the ups and downs of remote working a Reflective Leadership style has emerged which is more contemplative, structured and deliberately behaviourally based.
Technology has been a rapid facilitator of the remote working trend and while recognising some of the ‘glitches’ and issues, there has been an imperative to adopt a wide range of communication and workflow technologies. This would have taken decades in ‘normal’ circumstances and would have left behind a ‘non-techy’ generation in its wake. We now, however, have the ‘tech savvy’ ‘mature multi-generational population’ able to flip into ‘Zoom’, manage their lives and jobs online and order safely online anything from a pizza to a lawyer.
In the Business world I have seen developing, before my eyes, this emerging leadership focus which both promotes, facilitates and motivates remote working and collaboration. While slow moving over the years it has exploded, by necessity, during the Covid crisis and moved beyond those functions, roles and businesses where remote working was a ‘natural and easy’ call.
There is no doubt that there will be a re-set following the crisis, with people returning to ‘traditional’ offices and working practices. This will, however, be a re-set at a much higher level of acceptance of the practice of remote working, both motivated by individual desire and business dynamics. This higher ‘tide mark’ has been facilitated by a number of developments:
The IT works, it has proved within this giant pilot-experiment, that remote working works, and the ‘glitches’ can be ironed out very rapidly.
The New Meeting Space, we have facilitated new communication spaces and protocols, with ‘newer’, dare I say more polite and inclusive meeting dynamics. Who knew that you would be able to see everyone face to face in a meeting and not just the few people across the table from you in the traditional setting?
Developing Leadership Strategies, we have seen the rapid development of a remote style of leadership which is adaptive and fit for purpose.
As we ‘return’ to work there will be a plethora of new models available to us, from 100% remote to a bit more flexibility around work and lifestyles. The current mainstream view seems to be that remote working will become more ‘normal’, centred around a business leadership location hub which people will engage with on a regular basis, 2-3 days a week.
Managing this ‘mass’ remote working ethos, will require this more reflective, structured, deliberate and communication-based leadership.
Key elements of this Reflective Leadership have built on existing leadership understanding, adding and amplifying newer elements to deal with the potential of ‘mass’ remote working. In many ways lots of the elements are generally ‘good’ management practice. What becomes more important when working remotely is the exaggerated nature of our leadership actions for both good and bad, the missed or cancelled meeting resonates very loudly across the isolation of an on-line connection. The interaction with people in their own homes creates an intimacy and closeness not seen before.
So how do we better manage, motivate, and retain remote employees given these different challenges? Understanding these challenges and working through them will improve engagement, productivity, and cohesion across your entire team. Our actions need to be more conscious and deliberate than managing people we work side by side with. Things that work in an office do not always translate exactly to remote employees. Some of the best emerging advice can be summarised as:
Importance of building rapport, when managing remote employees, we can often focus and talk about what needs to be done, moving on quickly and getting back to delivering; while this is right in some circumstances, it’s not a great way of developing rapport with the diverse members of a remote team.
Rapport is what will help you work through problems each team member has, build trust and easier communication with you, and gives you some space and lee way when you make a mistake or an unpopular decision. Rapport does not come from doing and talking about work, but from getting to know each individual team member as a ‘rounded’ person. New social conventions are rapidly developing with adaptation to the ‘virtual handshake’ as we engage with people in different ways.
The impact of non-verbal communication, half of our communication takes place at a non-verbal level. We have to maximise the opportunity to continue this remotely, with rapidly developing technology and the new lexicon of emojis to express non-verbal communication in different ways. You are also less likely to get indirect feedback from others on the impact of your plans and actions as the leader, “what did you say to John, he seems very down.” Silences develop a new meaning and resonance.
Structured time with each individual, creating a more structured ‘schedule of one to one interaction is vitally important and at the heart of remote leadership. Some people will need less time, some more, but make it a regular check in. Just because one of the team seems to need less one to one interaction than other ‘needier’ characters never, never cancel or skip the scheduled interaction.
Also, your own availability needs to be more visible and accessible, the casualness of an office drop in does not work online.
Best meeting practice is amplified, those good habits we should deploy in the office become amplified on-line. The agenda for the meeting, good preparation, checking in with all the participants and so on.
Awareness of the isolation factors and face to face time, isolation for the employee can be a major factor and needs to be addressed. This will vary from individual to individual but needs a toolkit of actions and strategies to minimise the potential impacts. From the facilitation of team and colleague ‘chats’ to regular team gatherings and the annual ‘ho-down’.
Global remote leadership has its own specific challenges, for your own health and well-being, you need to avoid being the leader upon whom the sun never sets. Scheduling time and interacting across the globe takes some time and effort. Make your own availability very clear and stick to it.
Developing individuals, thinking about an individual’s development and career path becomes intensified when you are leading remotely. The cloud of ‘isolation’ can easily envelop people who do not feel they are getting a fair treatment and opportunity. While some development structures are more difficult remotely, others can be easier and more accessible, for example, remote mentoring has an established track record.
Building inclusivity, having the right people at a meeting or interaction becomes a more deliberate process which requires more thought, follow-up and ability to swiftly access people. The feeling of isolation is heightened for a remote team member who sees or hears about something they feel they should have been included in.
Managing your energy, we mostly tend to get naturally energised by people in face to face meetings. It is as important to continue to energise and motivate your team and individuals when you are operating remotely, and this will require more overt and direct language. Where previously they may have ‘seen’ you were happy when face to face, you now need to express this verbally.
Make sure their workspace is set up well, some people will have the time and space to work effectively remotely, indeed many of the existing practices assume a fairly flexible workstyle. However, as we enter ‘mass’ remote working, this may not be the case. If you have previously worked from home a lot, you will likely have set up a desk, monitors, and everything else you need. However, in forced lockdown, people have been “making do,” taking over the bedroom or camping out on the kitchen table, this is not sustainable in the longer term. An understanding spouse, partner or significant other maybe ok at the moment but for how long? Talk openly to people about what they need, and ensuring a safe set-up is as important as ever but more difficult remotely.
A new norm of creativity, while creativity can spontaneously erupt in a face to face team gathering as people bounce and fire off each other, a more deliberate and innovative solution is required when working remotely.
Rules of engagement, while an office environment ‘naturally’ tends to set norms and standards around a whole range of things, the rules of remote working also need some thought. Answering video calls in your pyjamas? Being unavailable as you are walking the dog for the second time that day! Interruptions from a whole variety of sources while amusing during a ‘crisis’ may be viewed differently as the new ‘norm’ of remote working develops.
Managing productivity, advances in workflow and team applications have given us a much better handle on the effectiveness of individuals within a remote team, but there are new challenges as remote working spreads more widely into new functions and deliverables. The amplification aspect of where a team member is ‘felt’ to be lackadaisical in timekeeping, attendance and productivity still exist remotely and need to be addressed.
Establishing the team ethos and ambition, the need to motivate the team still exists if you are to avoid the alienation process of a production environment. This is particularly important as we undertake more and different types of remote working, beyond the professional individual led project-based work. So being the best, being responsive and achieving as a team is as important when operating remotely as it ever was.
There will be many outcomes from the Covid crisis some poorer some better. It is heartening to see the levels and sources of innovation and ingenuity that have emerged. There is no doubt that at every level we will need to pull together to rise through this challenge. As businesses, leaders and individual team members our ability to harness and create growth out of this extreme situation will be testimony to our own creativity and drive.
